Photo Opportunity No 2

Following what Venezuela’s press office labeled a “historic” first encounter between Barack Obama and longtime scourge of the United States, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, it seems Chavez has taken a shine to Obama and his administration.

Encounters now seem to be coming thick and fast. Today, they met once more, again on the fringes of the summit.

Later, Chavez met with Hillary Clinton and mentioned the possibility of reinstating diplomatic ties between the two countries. Venezuela expelled the U.S. ambassador last year.

Said Chavez of Obama: “He’s an intelligent man, young; a black man. I think we need to take note of the gesture and words.”

Could this be the end of a decade long rift between the United States and Venezuela?

Possibly.

However, Chavez could not resist throwing a barbed message at Obama. On their second meeting he gave Obama a book by Eduardo Galeano titled “The Open Veins of Latin America.”

The subject? The history of US political and economic interventionism in the region.